About Us

AWESOME BEND: Making Bend more awesome, $1000 at a time.
Our mission is to inspire & support ideas that can make Bend an even better place to live, work and play.

Due to the closing of the Summit Saloon and loss of our venue, Awesome Bend PItch Nights are currently on hold. Please check back for any updates in the future.

Live crowdfunding-- Shark Tank style-- for community good.
$1000 awarded on the spot!
Join us for a free feel-good evening of Ideas & Inspiration.

APPLY FOR A GRANT!

Awesome Bend awards a $1000 grant every 4 months to a project that will make Bend even more awesome. The definition of "awesome" is intentionally left up to your imagination. It could mean solving a problem, making someone stop and think, or spreading joy-- think social good, the environment, technology, arts and beyond!

The grant has no strings attached (other than doing something awesome and telling us about it). We are high on action and low on bureaucracy. The application takes 15 minutes or less. Finalists deliver a 3-minute pitch at Pitch Night, where we select a winner and hand out $1000 on the spot to help them turn their awesome idea into reality.

Our only rules:

1.The project must be feasible and completed within 4 months of the award.

2.The money cannot be used for personal expenses or operating expenses for an established charity.

3.You agree to come back to the next Pitch Night and tell the community all about your project, thus inspiring future awesomeness.

(Hint for success: In your application, state very specifically, how your project will make Bend even more awesome.)

Judie Geiss won the $1000 award at Awesome Bend Pitch Night on October 17th with her proposal to install “You Matter” signs all over Bend.

“My project is to bring more uplifting signs to Bend, signs that encourage people who are suffering from depression and those who want to give up on life to keep going because they matter,” said Geiss. “The words ‘don't give up’ ‘you matter’, ‘mistakes don't define you’, ‘you are worthy of love’ reach out to hurting people. This project has spread across the U.S. and Europe and I believe Bend would be even more awesome if more people were helped because the signs were in more places, reminding us all that we matter. As you read them, they bring a smile to your heart or your face.”

Geiss will use the money to purchase 100 signs and pay residents of Shepherd’s House to install them around the city.

The audience favorite prize of $184.25 was awarded to the Inspirational Vessel Project which will distribute jars containing information about services available to the houseless through Bend’s Backdoor Café Day Center.

“This Pitch Night was such a great display of the creativity and diversity of people in Bend who want to bring something positive to our community,” said Dean of Awesomeness, Pam Stevenson. “We had ideas ranging from a blacksmithing anvil to beer yoga and presenters ranging from 17-year-old high school students to 82-year-old Judy Geiss.”